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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindsey_Graham
Military service[edit]
Upon graduating, Graham was commissioned as an officer and Judge Advocate in the United States Air Force in 1982. He was placed on active duty and in 1984, he was sent to Europe as a military prosecutor and defense attorney, serving at Rhein-Main Air Base in Frankfurt, Germany.[16] In 1984, as he was defending an air force pilot accused of using marijuana, he was featured in an episode of 60 Minutes that exposed the Air Force's defective drug-testing procedures.[13][17] After four years in Europe, he returned to South Carolina and then left active duty in 1989.[16] He subsequently entered private practice as a lawyer.[13]
Following his departure from the Air Force, he joined the South Carolina Air National Guard in 1989, where he served until 1995, then joining the U.S. Air Force Reserve.[16]
During the Gulf War, he was recalled to active duty, serving as a Judge Advocate at McEntire Air National Guard Station in Eastover, South Carolina, where he helped brief departing pilots on the laws of war.[18]
In 1998, according to the Congressional daily newspaper The Hill, Graham was describing himself on his website as an Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm veteran. In reality, he never left South Carolina. Graham responded: "I have not told anybody I'm a combatant. I'm not a war hero, and never said I was. I never intended to lie. If I have lied about my military record, I'm not fit to serve in Congress", further noting that he "never deployed."[19][20]
In 2004, Graham received a promotion to Colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve at a White House ceremony officiated by President George W. Bush.
Graham served in Iraq as a reservist on active duty for short periods during April and two weeks in August 2007, where he worked on detainee and rule-of-law issues.[21] He also served in Afghanistan during the August 2009 Senate recess.[22] Since then, Graham has been assigned as a senior instructor for the U.S. Air Force JAG Corps.[16][23] He also serves as an Air Force Reserve appellate judge.[17] In United States v. Lane, the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces held that it was improper for him to serve as a military judge while a sitting member of the Senate. See, United States v. Lane, 60 M.J. 781 (C.A.A.F. 2004).[24]
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So we have someone who served in an active duty capacity during a critical Cold War Era and then multiple times was called up and deployed to both Iraq and Astan. How is that a chickenhawk? His limited service is more than the two forum members who have never served, never deployed...never done anything but whine and cry and denounce Graham as a chickenhawk. BTW, JAGs were often sent out to FOBs using convoys as their mode of transport and frequently came under fire by the enemy. Still FOBBITS by nature, they had to run the gamut of SAFIRE, IEDs, rockets, and mortars just like everyone else. Plenty of people died or have been critically injured on FOBs and even main operating bases by sporadic and sometimes intense salvos by terrorists. Balad AB in Iraq was referred to as Mortaritaville when I went there in 03-04 after having been forward deployed from Al Udeid, then BIAP, and finally Balad. It seems our resident CHICKENHAWK labelers are wrong as usual.
Military service[edit]
Upon graduating, Graham was commissioned as an officer and Judge Advocate in the United States Air Force in 1982. He was placed on active duty and in 1984, he was sent to Europe as a military prosecutor and defense attorney, serving at Rhein-Main Air Base in Frankfurt, Germany.[16] In 1984, as he was defending an air force pilot accused of using marijuana, he was featured in an episode of 60 Minutes that exposed the Air Force's defective drug-testing procedures.[13][17] After four years in Europe, he returned to South Carolina and then left active duty in 1989.[16] He subsequently entered private practice as a lawyer.[13]
Following his departure from the Air Force, he joined the South Carolina Air National Guard in 1989, where he served until 1995, then joining the U.S. Air Force Reserve.[16]
During the Gulf War, he was recalled to active duty, serving as a Judge Advocate at McEntire Air National Guard Station in Eastover, South Carolina, where he helped brief departing pilots on the laws of war.[18]
In 1998, according to the Congressional daily newspaper The Hill, Graham was describing himself on his website as an Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm veteran. In reality, he never left South Carolina. Graham responded: "I have not told anybody I'm a combatant. I'm not a war hero, and never said I was. I never intended to lie. If I have lied about my military record, I'm not fit to serve in Congress", further noting that he "never deployed."[19][20]
In 2004, Graham received a promotion to Colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve at a White House ceremony officiated by President George W. Bush.
Graham served in Iraq as a reservist on active duty for short periods during April and two weeks in August 2007, where he worked on detainee and rule-of-law issues.[21] He also served in Afghanistan during the August 2009 Senate recess.[22] Since then, Graham has been assigned as a senior instructor for the U.S. Air Force JAG Corps.[16][23] He also serves as an Air Force Reserve appellate judge.[17] In United States v. Lane, the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces held that it was improper for him to serve as a military judge while a sitting member of the Senate. See, United States v. Lane, 60 M.J. 781 (C.A.A.F. 2004).[24]
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So we have someone who served in an active duty capacity during a critical Cold War Era and then multiple times was called up and deployed to both Iraq and Astan. How is that a chickenhawk? His limited service is more than the two forum members who have never served, never deployed...never done anything but whine and cry and denounce Graham as a chickenhawk. BTW, JAGs were often sent out to FOBs using convoys as their mode of transport and frequently came under fire by the enemy. Still FOBBITS by nature, they had to run the gamut of SAFIRE, IEDs, rockets, and mortars just like everyone else. Plenty of people died or have been critically injured on FOBs and even main operating bases by sporadic and sometimes intense salvos by terrorists. Balad AB in Iraq was referred to as Mortaritaville when I went there in 03-04 after having been forward deployed from Al Udeid, then BIAP, and finally Balad. It seems our resident CHICKENHAWK labelers are wrong as usual.
